Marriage, consensual union, civil partnership

Entry into marriage

You can get married by a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony, which has the effects of a civil marriage

The e-Wedding registration service on e-Citizens portal enables the spouse and bride to submit a declaration of intent to marry in civic form, book appointments and locations in official premises and pay administrative fees online.

Marriage is a legally sanctioned union between a man and a woman that is entered into consensually before a registrar or a religious officiant. Any person over the age of 18 having legal capacity can enter into marriage. By way of exception, persons who have reached the age of 16 can also enter into marriage with previous court permission.

Marriage may not be entered into by:
  • Persons under the age of 18
  • Persons who have completely lost their legal capacity or lack the capacity to make decisions 
  • Persons who are blood relatives
  • Persons who are married or in a same-sex life partnership registered in accordance with a special regulation. 

You can get married by a civil ceremony (before a registrar) or a religious ceremony, which has the effects of a civil marriage (before an officiant of a religious community that has regulated their legal relationship with Croatia).

Civil ceremony

If you have decided to get married by a civil ceremony, before you and your partner visit the registrar, you should:
  • Choose the date and location of the ceremony (you can choose any location in Croatia)
  • Obtain the necessary documents
  • Declare your intention to marry; for this, you need to visit the registrar in person
  • Decide on your surnames
  • Choose two witnesses for the ceremony

Once you have declared your intention to marry, the registrar will set the date the wedding ceremony is to take place with the bride and groom. The date of the wedding ceremony may be set in the period between 30 to 45 days after the date of declaring the intention to marry. In exceptional circumstances, when there are justified reasons for this, the wedding can take place even before the expiry of 30 days from the date of declaring the intention to marry, but no later than 90 days from the declaration of the intention to wed.

Required documents

The following documents are required for entry into marriage:
  • An extract from the birth register (not older than three months)
  • A certificate of free marital status (if the extract from the birth register is older than three months)   
  • A court decision on the permission to marry (if a person under the age of 16 is marrying).

You can obtain an extract from the birth register and a certificate of free marital status in the registry office of your entry in the birth register. You are also required to present identification documents and proof of citizenship to the registrar. As a rule, these are an ID card or a passport, but the registrar may also ask for other documents, depending on the particular situation.

Civil ceremony costs

The total costs the bride and groom have to pay equal 27,87 EUR in administrative fees, for the drawing up of the minutes of the declaration of the intention to marry and for the actual wedding ceremony to be performed by the registrar.

If you wish to marry outside the official premises, you also have to pay a special fee for that. The amount of this fee depends on how far the location of the wedding ceremony is from the official premises, time of the ceremony, whether the ceremony is to take place on a Sunday, holiday or bank holiday. No administrative fee is paid for first copy of the extract from the marriage register, as it is issued ex officio.

Religious marriage ceremony

A religious marriage ceremony is performed by an officiant of a religious community that has regulated their legal relationship with the Republic of Croatia.

Before entering into religious marriage, you are obliged to obtain a certificate of meeting the requirements to marry from the registrar competent for the place of the wedding (place where the religious building of your choice is located). In order to be issued this document, you are required to present the same documents as for the civil ceremony.

Please note that the certificate for entry into religious marriage is valid for three months from the date of issuance and that marriage entered into pursuant to an invalid certificate does not have the legal effects of a civil ceremony marriage.                  

Costs of a religious marriage ceremony

To enter into a religious marriage, you are required to pay:
  • 9,29 EUR in administrative fees for the drawing up of the minutes of the declaration of the intention to marry
  • 2,65 EUR for the issuance of a certificate of meeting the requirements for a religious marriage (the certificate is issued in two copies).

An extract from the marriage register issued by the registrar after the entry of marriage into the marriage register serves as proof of marriage.

With the e-Fee system, taxpayers can pay prescribed fees and charges, instead of state stamps or payment slip, faster and simpler through their bank cards (for a current account, giro account or credit card) such as Visa, Maestro, MasterCard and Diners.